Lukas B. Smith, who has worked at bars across the city, is known for tinkering with the bitters, syrups and liqueurs that go into his cocktails. Now’s your first chance to take one of his concoctions home. Rum distillery Cotton & Reed, where Smith runs the bar program, will bottle and sell his allspice dram.
This bar staple is Jamaican in origin, and is commonly used to give tiki drinks their rich spiciness. Smith thinks his version can do a lot more. Where most allspice drams on the market are sugary and primarily clove-flavored, his blend — which he makes from Cotton & Reed’s white rum — is brightened by dried lime, ginger, black peppercorn and other spices.
“Wherever you can have bitterness, wherever you want pepper or ginger, you could use this,” Smith says.
Much like liqueurs such as Aperol and Campari, allspice dram works best as an accent in cocktails. Smith uses it to add some bitterness to rum cocktails, because so many of his customers have bad memories of saccharine rum and Cokes.
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“I want to make drinks that are satisfying to people with less sugar than they’d expect,” Smith says. “Being surprised by a drink will have a longer impact [in your memory] than just enjoying it.”
Share this articleShareCotton & Reed (1330 Fifth St. NE) will host a release party for the dram Sunday from 4 p.m. to midnight, slinging cocktails that feature the new product. Pick up a bottle (750 mL, $35) on your way out.
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